Pages

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Civil War Veterans at Mt. Vernon

In September of 2010, I visited an Aunt and Cousin in Seattle. We spent some time reviewing information we had on our family and I was able to add new information into my Legacy database on my Allen line.

My Aunt is by marriage and I had not seen the family history information she had on her family before. She has items that will make a genealogist dance...several volumes of books containing hand-written genealogies and a family bible! This bible was her Great-Grandfather's (Thomas Marion Rabon) that he carried with him during the Civil War. It is stained, worn and starting to come apart. At some point in time, someone took plastic and used straight pens to attach to the outside covers of the book. I believe they thought they would be protecting the cover, but we all know the damage plastic can cause. Still, the bible itself is beautiful.

Once I returned home I began searching for the Rabons on Ancestry.com. This is one of the family lines we all love to have. There has been much research done and family trees put online. I always love to get all these clues to help give direction to my research. One of the family trees looked especially promising and included photos, although the tree was private. I sent an email stating my interest in the family and within 24 hours the photos and documentation started flooding my inbox. I "introduced" my Seattle Aunt and Cousin to their new Texas Cousin, Carol. It was very exciting for everyone, sharing information and photos!

This picture, in particular, caught my Seattle Cousin's eye. Yes, that is Mt. Vernon in the background, the photo title states this photo was taken during a Civil War reunion. We have been able to identify Thomas Rabon, he is near the center of the photo, 3 rows back and is holding up his hat.

This photo by itself is pretty awesome, but it gets better. My Seattle Cousin started searching online for "civil war reunions at Mt. Vernon", eventually finding this video created by Maureen Taylor, the Photo Detective. This video contains a very similar photo and gives the details as to why a Civil War reunion would have been held at Mt. Vernon. Please watch it, it is very interesting.

What an incredible find and what an incredible connection made. The genealogy world really is a small place, we just need to take advantage of that fact.

Content

This blog reflects the personal views of the author. Any comments posted by visitors to this site are strictly the views of the visitor. The author reserves the right to edit and/or remove comments deemed offensive or inappropriate.

Every attempt will be made to provide factual information with as much accuracy as possible. Readers should not take the information provided as factual.

Every attempt will be made to provide credit to sources. If you feel proper credit has not been given please contact the author.

The contents of his blog belongs to Desperately Seeking Surnames. Please give proper credit when reposting.